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Patented July 20,1920.

L. LLA BOMB/IRD.

MACHINE FOR MAKING BOXES.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 20. ISIB.

I D I I I II L. E. LA BOMBARD.

MACHINE FOR MAKING BOXES.

APPLICATION FILED Fmzo. 191s.

Patented July 20, 1920.

8 SHEES-SHEEI 2.

XI m vena? L. E. LA BOMBARD.

MACHINE FOR MAKING BOXES.

APPLICATION FILED FEB.20. 1918.

1,346,899. Patented July 20,1920.v

8 SHEEIS-SHEE 3.

` by?, /maw L. E. LA BUMBARD.

MACHINE FOR MAKING BoxEs.

I APPLICATION FILED FEB. 20. 1918. 1,346,899. Patented July 20, 1920.

8 SHEEI S-SHEE 4.

l i/zveivo 74 L. E. LA BOMB/mn. MACHINE FOR MAKING BQXES.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 20. I9I8.

8 SHEEI S-SHEEI 5.

Patenmly 2o, 1920.

L. E. LA BOMBABD.

MACHINE FOR MAKING. BOXES. APPLlcA'loN FILED FEB. 2o. 1,971.8.

1,'346Q899. Patented July 20, 1920.

' SHEElS-SHEEI 6. Y

59 f5 a) W Even/fai L. E; LA BOMBARD.

MACHINE FOR MAKING BOXES.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 20. 1.918.

Patented July 20, 1920.

8 SHEElS-SHEET I.

i /76l /aa Y ,pay 1a.

L. EJLA BoMAnn.

MACHINE FOR MAKING BOXES.

APPLICATION FILED FEB.20. I9I8.

zvevztor Patented July 20, 1920.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

LEON E. LA BOMBARD, OF CHELSEA, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO SPECIALTY AUTOMATIC MACHINE COMPANY, OF CHELSEA, MASSACHUSETTS, A CORPORA- TION OF MASSACHUSETTS.

MACHINE FOR MAKING BOXES.

Application fried February 2o, 191s.

lowing is a specification.

This invention relates to the manufacture of paper boxes of the type known as flat folded boxes or cartons, and the invention refers particularly to machines for rapidly converting cut and creased blanks into tubes which issue from the machine in flat form, ready for shipment, to be afterward opened or expanded to receptacle form.

The principal object of the invention is'l to provide a machine of this character which is capable of operating on very small blanks to produce boxes of the smallest size used for commercial purposes.

A further object is to provide improvements which ,will prevent any lateral shifting of the blanks while being carried through the machine, no matter what may be the sizes ofthe blanks.

A further object is to provide a machine which continuously advances the blanks but shifts the control thereof from one side portion of the blank to another side portion thereof in order to keep accurate control of blanks of very narrow width.

Another object is to provide a machine of this character with an improved stacking mechanism which keeps control of the very narrow flat blanks as they issue from the folding mechanism in flattened tubular form.

lVith these and other objects in view, my invention consists in the improvements which I shall now proceed to describe and claim. v

Of the accompanying` drawings:

Figures 1, 2, 3 and l, together, represent aV longitudinal sectional view of the complete machine, Fig. 1 showing the end of the machine where the blanks are supplied by any suitable feeder, and Fig. 4: which slightly overlaps Fig. 3, showing the end where the flat folded boxes leave the machine.

Figs. 5, 6, 7 and 8 are plan views of those portions of the machine shown respectively in Figs. 1,2, 3 and Il.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented` July 20, 1920. serial No. 218,319.

Fig. 9 represents a section on line 9-9 of Y Figs. 1 and 5.

Fig. 10 represents a detail elevation of a portion of the machine shown in Fig. 6 and duplicated and similarly illustrated also in Figs. '5 and 7 Fig. 11 is a detail elevation of parts shown near the middle of Fig. 6.

Fig. 12 is a detail elevation of parts shown near the middle of Fig. 7.

Fig. 13 represents a section on line 13-13 of Fig. 7- on a larger scale.

Fig. 14 is a sectional elevation of gearing hereinafter described.

Fig. 15 is a sectional detail of means for frictionally transmitting rotation to several of the shafts hereinafter described.

Fig. 16 is a plan view of one form of blank adapted to be folded to flat tubular or carton form by this machine.

Figs. 17, 1S, 19 and 20 are views to illustrate successive operations upon the blank shown in Fig. 16. Y

Figs. 21, 22 and 23 are detail views, hereinafter referred to, of mechanism for counting the folded boxes.

Similar reference characters designate similar parts in all of the views.

The frame of the machine may be of any suitable form or design. For present purposes it is suiiicient to illustrate the side bars thereof at 20.

The main carrier belt 21, which is quite thick as best shown in Fig. 13 and made of leather or other suitable material is a long one, mounted at one end (Fig. 1) on a pulley 22 carried by shaft 23, and at the other end (Figs. 3 and el) on a pulley 24 carried by shaft 25. A shorter upper belt 26 is mounted on pulleys 27, 28 (Figs. 1 and 5) carried by shafts 29, 30, respectively. The belt 26 is much narrower' than belt 21 as shown in Figs. 5 and 9. shown in Fig. 16 are fed, one at a time, between the belts 26, 21, where they meet between the pulleys 27, 22, by any suitable mechanism not necessary to illustrate.

The shafts 29, 23, are provided with intermeshing gears, one of which is shown at 31 in Fig. 5. The other end of shaft 23 is provided with a bevel gear 32 driven by a bcv el gear 33 carried by L 3i mounted 1n Blanks such asbrackets 35 supported by one of the side bars 20. Said shaft eXtends practically the entire length of the machine as shown in Figs. 5, 6, 7 and 8.

Each of the shafts 29, 30, is mounted in bearings carried by arms 36 secured by set screws 37 to trai'isverse rods 38, 39 which are supported by frame brackets l() (Figs. l and Mounted in each pair of arms 36 is a shaft lll having its mid-length portion screw threaded. The two shafts lll carry sprockets 42 for a connecting chain 43. Slidably mounted on each screw shaft ll is a hub 44 having a pin (not necessary to illustrate) engaging the screw thread so that when the two shafts are rotated in one direction or the other by grasping the upper stretch of chain 43 and pulling it toward either sprocket, the hubs 44twill be adjusted to ward one side or the other of the machine, for a purpose hereinafter explained. Depending from the hubs lll are feet or brackets Ll5 which support a cage of rolls comprising a bar 46, side plates l? and rolls 4S, the latter bearing upon the upper surface of the lower or operative stretch of belt 26.

The rolls i8 are preferably arranged in pairs as shown in'Fig. l, and in practice are yieldingly' mounted as shown in Fig. 7 of my application Serial No. 137535, filed Deceniter is, 191e.

The upper stretch of the lower belt,

throughout. its length shown in Figs. l, 2

and 3, runs on rolls li9 mounted on pintles supported by side plates 5() rising from a bar 5l., the latter being supported by cross or tie rods 52 of the machine frame. The side Vplates 50, as shown in Figs. 9 and 13, extend tant that the belt can not shift late ally The sideplates, acting as belt-guides as eX- plaincd insure correctness in the path of movement of the belt.

Machines of this general type, to be com* mercially successful, must be capable of ruiming at high speed. At such spe-ed a carrier belt for the blanks, if made of leather of the single thickness ordinarily obtainable, has a tendency to shift sidewise or wabble7 and is also jumpy in its action. The re-n sult is that it sometimes works onto the flanges of the supporting rolls when flanged rolls are employed. These tendencies of ordinary belts are enhanced by the fact that as leather' belts of any material length are always made of lapjointed pieces, and as the pieces vary in quality, the belt as a whole is quite irregular and some sections tend to shift to one side more than other sections. Then when a section pushes against whatever is employed to guide the belt, the reaction or resistance of that guide tends to cause the belt to rise or bend laterally, causing it to bulge or buckle. These difficulties have overcome by making the belt 2l so thick in proportion t0 its width (properly termed double-thick) that it can not buckle laterally as the result of any amount of back pushing of either of the guides 50. It is important that the belt as a whole shall not shift vlaterally because if it did it would cause lateral shifting of the blanks carried thereby and interfere with the proper folding of the blanks on their crease lines. Therefore the belt is made of uniform width as indicated in the plan View figures, and said width is such as to j ust fill the space between the guides 50. The result is that no portion of the belt can shift laterally or be crowded so as to bulge or buckle.

The lower belt 2l is wide and needs no lateral adjustment. The upper or first control belt 26 is laterally adjustable, as by mechanism presently described, to insure correct folding of small blanks. )ther upper belts (79, 133) farther' along in the machine and yet to be described, are laterally adjustable similarly, but independently of belt 2G. In other words, each upper belt (and its cage of pressing rolls) is adjusted independently. lVhen the chain 43 is operated to rotate the two screw shafts ell, arms 54 of hubs all which engage annular grooves 55 in the hubs of pulleys 27, 23 (Fig. 5) shift Said pulleys along their shafts. rllhe pulley 27 has a splined connection (Fig. l) with its shaft 29 because this pulley drives the belt 2G.

lVhen lateral adjustment of the upper belt is to be effected, it is desirable to first temporarily lift the belt, its pulleys, shafts 29, 3() and 11, and the cage of rolls L18, so that friction on belt 2l, due to the weight of those parts, shall not interfere with accurate adjustment. To this end l provide means for slightly rocking the rods 38, 39, manually to swing their arms 3G up far enough to lift all the parts which are connected to said arms to separate belt 26 from belt 2l. As the saine means are duplicated for the several upper belt structures, I employ the same reference characters in Figs. 6 and 7 as are used in Figs. l and l0 to designate the manual lifting mechanism. Referring particularly to Figs. 5 and l0, arms 56, 5r are clamped respectively to rods 38, 39, and overlap each other. A pin 58 projects from one arm into a slot 59 in the other arm so that actuation of one arm will actuate the llO llt:

other. A screw 60 passes through a hole 61 in arm 56 and engages a threaded hole in arm I, said hole 61 being considerably larger' than said screw, but less in size than the head of the screw or a washer under said head. The arm 56 has a handle 62. The screw 66 is employed simply to tightly secure the overlapped arms so they can not swing. )When said screw is loosened, pressure exerted on the arms, by bearing down on handle 62, rocks the rodsBS, 39, to swing the arms 36 up, thus temporarily lifting the necessary parts while chain 43 is being actuated to effect lateral adjustment of pulleys 27, 28, belt 26, and the cage of rolls 18.

Blanks of the kind illustrated in Fig. 16 are creased or scored on lines a, b, c, d, which may be relatively spaced as shown in said ligure or differently spaced relatively if the fina-l box 1s not to be square in cross section when opened and filled. In order that the blanks may be properly folded, and the completed boxes can then be conveniently opened for insertions of their contents, it is often desirable that all four creased lines shall be brokeng7 that is, so bent on their creased lines Vthat the folding and opening above mentioned can be properly and conveniently performed. Therefore, by mechanism shown in Figs. 1 and 5, the blanks between belts 21, 26 are broken on two creased lines although those two lines are not the ones on which the blank is folded by mechanism shown in the other figures and yet to be described. To effect this preliminary breaking when the user of the machine desires it, I provide two inclined lifter fingers 63, 64, (Figs. 5 and 9) which coact with two disks 65, 66 free to rotate on a rod 67L and adjustable thereon for different styles of blanks, as by suitable collars. The lifter finger 63 is adjustably supported in a bracket 67 which, in turn, is adjustably sup-V ported on a pin 68 projecting from one of the plates 50, andthe lifter finger 64e is adjust'ably supported by a bracket 69 which, in

turn, is adjustably supported on a pin 70 projecting from the other plate 50.

As it is not essential that the lower belt shall be as wide as the blanks, I findA it desirable to Vprovide a roll 71 under the disk 66 (Fig. 9), said roll being mounted idly on a ypin projecting from Vone of the plates 56, so that when the blanks'being operated on are of a type such as indicated at and the machine parts are adjusted to run the blanks through with said portions of the blanks projecting asV shown in Fig. 9, said side portions will be nipped firmly between disk 66 and roll 71 while the finger 6i is turning up the edge portion of the blank and breaking the crease a (Fig. 17).

The machine is illustrated as adjusted for operation o n very small blanks having nar- Each blank passing through so much of the machine as so far described, is converted from the fiat form shown in Fig. 16 to the form shown in Figs. 9 and 17. As the next step is to apply glue generic term employedherein for any suitable adhesive) to the under surface of flap c, I provide means for positively turning the liap e down after it has been bent u p or broken as described. The opposite marginal portion of the blank is of such area that it automatically returns to a substantially horizontal plane after passing disk 65and linger 68. The blanks are fed to the machine in such lateral positions that the belts 21, 26, grip portions f or g thereof preferably the latter. To turn down the v[lap e, I employ a blade 72 having a beveled front end 73, said blade projecting rigidly as shown in Figs. 1 and 5 from a pin 7 4, supported by a bracket 75 mounted on the top of a suitable glue boX 76. A glue wheel 77 carried by a shaft 78 applies a film of glue, to the flap e of the blank, which flap is turned down by the portion 73 ofv the blade and then guided along by the lower straight edge of the blade to ycontact with the glue wheel.

At this time the blanks have been broken on the lines a., c, (Figs. 9 and 17) and have been returned to substantially flat Aform shown in Fig. 18, and have had glue applied to their iiaps c. As they are then to be folded on other lines, the lines Z), (Z, by mech' the requirements of differently cut and4 creased blanks.

Atene end, the .belt 79 is supported by a pulley 80 (Fig. 5) mounted on shaft 30 at one side of pulley 28, and at the other end by a pulley 81, carried by a.' shaft 82 (Figs. 2 and 6) having a gear S3 meshing with a similar gear S11 under it and carried by a shaft 129 hereinafter referred to. A tightener roll 85 for the belt 79 is carried by a suitably supported arm 86.

At one side of and parallel with belt 79, andV as shown in Figs. 5 and 6 as in alinement with the belt 26, is a comparatively short belt 87 supported atone end by a pulley 88 splined on a shaft 89 (Figs. 1 and 5) and at the other end, (Fig. 2) by a pulley 90. Said pulley is mounted on a pin 91 suphaving side plates 941 which support rolls 95 bearing on the upper surface of the lower or operative stretch of the belt 87. 96 (Fig. 2) designates a cage of rolls for the operative stretch of belt 79, said cage being similar to the one described for belt 26. Said cage is longer than the one for belt 87 and extends from close to pulley S1 on shaft 82 (Figs. 2 and 6) to close to pulley 80 on shaft 80 (Figs. 1 and 5). Said cage is supported at one end by a bracket 97 (Fig. 2) having a smooth-bore aperture through which a screw-threaded shaft 105 hereinafter` described passes, and near the other end has a bracket (behind bracket 106 in Fig. l) hung on shaft 101.

The shaft 89 (Figs. 1 and 5) is mounted in arms 98 of a rod 99 mounted to be rocked slightly in bearings in frame brackets 100, (Figs. 2 and 6) and said arms provide bearings for the screw shaft 101. The shaft 82 is mounted in arms 102 of a rod 108 mounted to be rocked slightly in bearings in frame brackets 1041-, and said arms provide bearings for the screw shaft 105. The bar 93 has a bracket 106 hung on shaft 101 (Figs. 2 and 1). By rocking the two rods 99, 103 in the same manner as described in connection with the rods 88, 39, the bar 98, the roll cage 96, and all parts carried there by, will be raised slightly to lift belts 79, 87, away from belt 21. As the devices for effecting such rocking are the same as already described in connection with Figs. 5 and 10, the same reference numerals are employed as in Fig. 6.

The screw shafts 101, 105, have sprockets connected by a chain 107 so that, by grasping said chain and pulling it one way or the other, both of said shafts will be simuL taneonsly rotated. 0n the threaded portion of shaft 101 is a hub 108, Fig. 5, having an arm 109 engaging an annular groove in the hub of pulley 88. Said hub 108 has an arm 110 provided with a roll 111 for keeping belt 87 taut.

When a blank reaches the position where glue is applied to the under surface of its flap e by glue wheel 77, it is flat as in Fig. 18, and has been taken control of by belt 79 which bears on section L or z', preferably the latter. The section f/ however is under belt 87 for a time, and therefore the blank is held from twisting as it is carried along between belt 21 and belts 79, 87. while the blank is being bent or broken on line 7), and the folding operation commences. This bending up of the blank on line 7) is effected by a folder arm 112 (Fig. 6) having a shank 118 adjustably connected with a bracket 114;. which, in turn. is adjustably supported on a pin 115 projecting from one of the side plates 50. Said folder arm 112 turns or folds the blank to carry its por tions f, e, to position to pass under the belt 117 presently described. The portions g, z. z' ofthe blank continue to be carried along on belt 21 under the coperating pressure of upper belt 79, the up-turnedlportion of the.

blank being guided over on top of a tapering shoe 116 (Figs. 2 and 6) the thin tip end of which extends far enough to guide the folded line of the blank until the latter is well under belt 117.

The belt 117 (Figs. 2, 6 and 11) is mounted on pulleys 118, 119, carried by a bar 120 which is rigidly connected to the inner end of a sleeve 121 adjustably supported by a bracket 122 rising from one of the side bars 50. A tightener for the belt is indicated at 123. The pulley 119 is carried by a shaft 1241 extending through sleeve 121 and having a pulley 125 at its outer end.

The pulley 118 is mounted on a stud shaft 126 carried by bar 120. By adjusting the sleeve 121 which rigidly carries bar 120, the inclination of the belt relatively to the belt 21 can be varied so that the lower stretch of belt 117 will properly and gradually fold down the in-turned portions j', e, of the blank to the position shown in Fig. 19.

The pulley 125 is driven by a belt 127 (Fig. 6), said belt being driven by a com'A paratively large pulley 128 carried by shaft 129 (Fig. 2) having bevel gear connection 130 with shaft 311. The pulleys 125, 128 are of such relative sizes that belt 117 travels considerably faster than the blank is being carried along by belts 21, 7 9, so as to secure a forwardly wiping action on the portion f to counteract the preceding tendency of folder arm 112 and shoe 116 to hold this portion back and cause a slightly askew folding on line 5. In other words, if the nature of the blank material is such that the first step of folding on line by the arm 112 and shoe 116, tends to be laterally in clined, or askew, the faster traveling belt 117 which completes the folding on line Y), counteracts that tendency by drawing the folded over portion forwardly to position determined by the crease of line 5.

To hold the in-turned portion of the blank down and guide it under the third upper belt 188 presently described, I provide a small shoe or'guide 131 adjustably connected by a link 132 to the bar 120.

The third upper belt 133 is mounted at one end on a pulley 184C carried by shaft 82 (Figs. 2 and 6) and at the other end on a pulley 135 carried by a shaft 136 (Figs. 8 and 7) having a gear meshing with other gearing hereinafter described. Y' Control of the blank is taken by this third belt after the blank has been folded as shown in Fig. 19, so that there will be nothing in the way to interfere with the next operation of folding the portion v over as shown in Fig. 20.

he mechanism for doing this final folding will be described hereinafter.

The shaft 136 is mounted in bearings provided in arms 137 secured to a rod 138 supported by frame Abrackets' 139. Mounted in said arms is a screw threaded shaft 140. Another screw threaded shaft 14-1 is carried by arms 142 secured to a rod 143 supported by frame brackets 11141. The two rods 138, 1413 have means for slightly rocking them, for the same purpose as already described in connection with the rods 38, 39 in Fig. 5, and therefore said means bear the same reference V,numerals in Fig. 7 as in Figs. 5 andlO.

The two screw shafts 140, 141 have sprockets connected by a chain 145 whereby the two shafts may be simultaneously rotated mann nally. A nut hub 146 on shaft 140 has an arm 147 engaging an annular groove in the hub of pulley 135, and a nut hub 1118 on shaft 141 has an arm 149 engaging an annular groove in the hub of pulley 1341., whereby manual actuation of chain 1115 will eifect lateral adjustment of the belt 133. At the same time, the roll cage for said belt is shifted, said cage comprising a bar 150 (Fig. having side plates supporting the pintles of rolls 151, said bar being hung` on the shafts 140, 1111 by brackets 152, 153,

`said brackets being so connected to the hubs 146, 14.8, as to be shifted laterally with said hubs. y

`When the blank leaves the control of the second or intermediate upper belt 79 and the control shifts laterally tothe third up per belt 133, said blank is in the condition or form shown in Fig. 19, and the com pletion of the folding to the Fig. 2() form is performed by the mechanism or devices which 1 shall now describe.

A bracket 151V (Fig. 7) supported by one of the lower side plates 50,is formed or provided with a tongue 155 which as shown in Figs. 7 and 12 and as indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 3, extends down into one of the grooves 53 in lower belt 21 so that the portion vl of the blank will ride up onto said tongue. It then rides up the incline 156 supported by bracket 154. Another bracket 157 is supported by side plate 5() and carries a vertical plate 158 (Figs. 7 and 13) by means of the shank 159 of the latter. Said plate has a thin shoe 16() projecting from it. A folder arm 161 has a shank 162 adjustably supported by bracket 157. As the blank portion i passes up the incline 156, its portion it passes under the inclined lower edge of plate 158 (Fig. 12) and then under shoe 166 (Figs. 12 and 13). The portion z' then passes onto or against arm 161 and is folded over thereby in the direction of the arrow (Fig. 13), said portion, afterpassing plate 158, being turned in by said arm 161 until the free end of the latter delivers it to be acted upon by belt 163. The preliminary folding of the blank on line Z is effected by the members 156, 158, 161, to and beyond the position indicated in Fig. 13, and the completion of said fold to the position' indicated in Fig. 2O is effected by the belt 163. One end of the belt 163 is mounted on a pulley 164, idly mounted on a pintle carried by a bar 165 (Figs. 7 and 12), and the other end of the belt runs on a driven elongated pulley 166 hereinafter referred to. r1`he bar 165 has a lateral arm or shank 167 which is adjustably secured to4 a bracket 168 rising from one of the side plates 50. The other end of the bar 165 carries a pulley 169 bearing on the lower stretch of belt 163. A suitably mounted roll 17() keeps belt 163 taut. By adjusting the bar 165, the pulley 164 can be set at any such height as may be desired to cause the portion of the belt from pulley 1611 to pulley 169 to run in such an inclined direction as required to take the portion z' of the blank under it and complete the folding thereof, while the portion of the belt from pulley 169 to pulley 166 will act to press the marginal portion of the section z' of the blank down on the section or portion c which has the glue on its upper surface.

1n a machine of this type, it is essential that the upper belts 26, 79, 87 and 133 shall be quite narrow, to enable small blanks as described to be folded, the control passing from one to another of the belts. Such narrow belts wear much more rapidly than the wide lower belt 21. Therefore their surface speed would be gradually reduced if their driving pulleys and shafts were to be positively driven at a uniform speed, and it would then be impossible to carry the blanks through straight if the surface speed of said upper belts were to differ from that of the main lower belt 21. To overcome this 1 provide means which tend to frictionally drive the driving shaft of each upper belt at a speed slightly exceeding that of belt 21, the friction between the upper belts and the lower belt then holding the speed of the upper belts down to that of the lower belt. As said means are the saine for each of the four upper belts, a description of one will suffice for all. The one chosenis belt 26. As shown in Fig. 1, the pulley 27 is slightly larger than pulley 22. Shaft 23 carrying pulley 22 is positively driven at a uniform speed by the long shaft (Fig. through bevel gearing 32, 33. Shafts 23, 29A have intermeshing gears, the upper one, carried by shaft 29, being shown at 31 vin Figs. 5 and 15. Gear 31 is not keyed to its shaft, but is held against an annular shoulder 171 of the shaft by a friction disk 172 splined on the reduced portion 173 of the shaft, the latter being threaded for a nut 174 having a set screw 175 for holding it when adjusted. A spring 176 confined between the nut and disk holds the gear 31 with sufficient force to tend to rotate the gear and its shaft 29 at the same speed. But as the belts 21, 26, are in sufficient contact so that the former holds the latter down to its speed, the gear 31 slips relatively to disk 172 and the two belts travel at the same surface speed; Of course as the narrow upper belt wears, the amount of such slip decreases until possibly there will be no slip at all when the upper belt has been worn down to its last practical thickness.

The drive of shaft 82 for belt 79 has been described.

The shaft 89 having pulley 88 for belt 87 is provided with a gear 177 (Fig. 5) meshing with another gear under it (not shown) carried by shaft 78 (Fig. 1). Said shaft is driven by the long shaft 34 through the medium of bevel gearing 178.

The shaft 136 having pulley 135 for belt 133 is provided with a gear 179 (Figs. 1, 7 and 8) meshing with a gear 180 carried by shaft 25, the latter having bevel gearing connection 181 with the long shaft 34.

Each of the gears 177, 83 and 17 9, is mounted on its shaft in the same manner as just described in connection with gear 31, and therefore the same reference numerals are employed for the nuts and springs,to indicate that each driving shaft for each of the four upper belts is frictionally driven by mechanism such as shown in Fig. 15.

The three chains L13, 107, and 145 can be independently operated manually to laterally adjust the upper belts 26, 79 and 133 respectively to locate said belts in their exact relative lateral positions to suit `the width of the blanks to be run through, and the relative spacing of the crease lines of such blanks. How operation of chain 13 effects lateral adjustment of belt 26 has been described. In the same manner, belt 79 1s adjusted by chain 107 because the latter rotates screw shafts 101, 105. 0n shaft 105 is a nut hub 182 (Fig. 6) connected to cage bracket 97 (Fig. 2), and having an arm 183 extending into an annular groove in the hub 184 of pulley 81. Near the other end of the roll cage 96 for belt 79 is a bracket similar to and behind the bracket 106 in Fig. 1. The nut hub of such bracket of the roll cage 96 is shown at 185 in Fig. 5. At the end of the roll cage 96 shown in Fig. 1 is a bracket 186 as indicated by dotted lines in said ligure. ln Fig. 5 a portion of the belt 79, and the tightener roll thereof, are broken away to show the bracket 186. Said bracket supports the arm 86 of the tightener, and also carries an arm 187 entering an annular groove in the hub 188 of pulley 80. By these devices and connections the belt 79, and its roll cage, are laterally adjusted by operating chain 107.

By similar devices and connections previously described, the belt 133 and its roll cage 150, 151 (Figs. 3 and 7) are laterally adjusted.

The belt 87 and its roll cage are short and may be laterally adjusted by hand.

As shown in Figs. 3, 4 and 7, l provide a plate 190 suitably supported adjustably by a pin 191 and having teeth or lingers extending into the grooves of belt 21 as indicated in Fig. l so as to lift the folded blanks from said belt and guide them between two rolls 192. These rolls are so mounted that their nip is far enough above the plane of travel of the folded blanks issuing from between belts 21, 163, to bend or curve said blanks up as they pass from said belts to the rolls. I have found in practice that this insures straight travel of the blanks so passing. Since the narrow upper belt 163 usually bears upon the overlapped portions of the blank, where it is thickest, the blanks tend to turn laterallyor travel askew as they leave the belts if free to continue in the same plane of travel. .This tendency is overcome by bending or curving them as described.

The rolls 192 deliver the folded blanks between belts 193, 194 (Figs. /1 and 8) which, in turn, deliver them onto a belt 195 which travels so slowly that they are overlapped thereon and are carried in this overlapped condition under a pressing belt 196. The belts 195, 196, are of any desired length, and the upper one may be driven positively er merely by the friction of the moving articles beneath it. The lower belt 195 is mounted at one end on a roll 197 carried by a shaft 198 having a worm wheel 199 meshing with a worm 200 carried by a shaft 201 which extends under a portion of shaft 34 (Figs. 7 and 8) and is driven by the latter by means of a belt and cone drive mechanism, one of the cone pulleys being shown at 202 in Fig. 7, carried by shaft 3-1.

The outer portion of belt 195 runs on pulleys or rolls 203 supported by extension frame bars 204. rlhe belt 196 is mounted on rolls 205, carried by a relatively light frame consisting of bars 206 and a cross rod 207 connected to bars 2041 by links 208.

A bracket or casting (Figs. a, 8, 21 and 22) suitably supported by the frame of the machine, comprises a vertical plate 209 and a shelf-like portion 210, the latter provid ing bearings for the stud shaft of the belt pulley 166, and the upper one of the two rolls 192, and the shaft 211, of the pulley 212 which drives belt 193. rllhe other end cf the belt 193 runs on an idle pulley 213, with intermediate guiding and tightener pulleys 214:, 215, 216. lThe pulleys 213, 211iV arc mounted on stud shafts supported by a bar 217 having a slot 218, said bar being carried by an arm 219 mounted to oscillate y"on shaft 211. A stud at the lower end of arm 219 passes through the slot 218 and is fitted with a nut 220 (Fig. 8) whereby the bar can be secured to the arm in adjusted position with the pulley 213 more or less close to the pressing belt 196. 7When an adjustment is made, the slack of the belt-1s taken up bv the pulley 215 which is carried by an arm 221 adjustably connected with arm 219.'

The short belt 194 below belt 193 is mounted at one end on a pulley 222 at the lower end of arm 219 and at the other end on a pulley 223 mounted on a `stud under the bracket shelf 210.

plate 224 adjustably mounted on a pin 225 serves to guide the blanks carried by the lines become set.

coasting stretches of belts 193, 194. lf desired', a second similar guide plate may be positioned opposite the other side edges of the belts.

To yieldingly and adjustably counterbalance the arm 219 and the bar 217 and parts carried thereby, l provide said arm 219 with f a downwardly projecting fixed lug or bar 1 provide a pair of yielding shoes, eachv comprising a spring blade 231 attached to theunder surface of a block or hub 232 secured by a set screw 233 to a pin 234 projecting from the end of bar 217. Said shoes bear on the thinner portions of the folded blanks each side of the overlapped and conksequently thicker portions thereof, and pregood results and do not limit myself to the'- use of two. lVhen two areemployed they extend in opposite directions as shown in rig. s.

ln operation, the stacker mechanism above described, and illustrated in Figs. 4 and 8, keeps the folded blanks or flat boxes folded and closed until they have passed to the belt 196 which holds them so until their glue Said stacker mechanism permits rapid folding because it accumulates the boxes rapidly as they are'formed from flat blanks, and reduces their speed of travel in overlapped condition. rlhis is due to the slow speed of travel of receiving belt A195(as by means of the worm gearing described) compared with the speed of travel of the belts which carry the blanks while being folded, resulting in the folded blanks being deposited on the belt 195 in .the form of a row of overlapping articles.

carries the belt 193 will be somewhat lower than shown in Fig. 4. rhen, as the overlapped blanks reach belt 196, the latter and its carrying frame will be lifted up, while at the same time free to gravitate with more or less pressure on the row. lf desired, the height of the belt 196 and its carrying frame may be regulated any suitable adjusting me hanism, ancL the belt 196 might also be positively driven.

The driving mechanism of the machine as a whole, and of the stacker mechanism, is shown in Figs. 4, S and 14. A shaft having a pulley 236 at one end for a driving belt and a hand wheel 237 at the other end, has a pinion 233 (Figs. 4 and 14) meshing with the gear 180 of shaft 25. Secured to shaft 25 near gear 130 is a gear 239 meshing with a small gear 240 carried by the shaft 241 of the elongated pulley 166, where,- by said pulley and the short belt 163 are driven. The gear 246 meshes with and drives a gear 242 the stud sh aft 243 of which is supported by the bracket portion 210. rhe gear 242 meshes with a pinion 244 of shaft 211 which carries the elongated pulley 212 for driving the belt 193. Said gear 242 also meshes with a pinion 245 (Fig. 21) at the end of the shaft of the upper roll 192, and said shaft has a toothed portion or pilviion 246 meshing with a similar pinion 247 of the lower roll 192, whereby said rolls are driven. The intermeshing teeth of pinions 246, 247 are long enough to prevent disengagement when the lower roll 192 is 100 shifted away from the Lipper roll by a folded box passing between them. The lower roll is carried by a pair of levers 250 one of which is shown in Fig. 22, pivoted at and acted upon by a suitable spring 252 105 so that the lower roll will be normally held yieldingly up against the upper roll but capable of being depressed slightly by a passing box. The rear end of the lever 250 shown in 11o 22 is operatively connected to the lower end of a slide 253 mounted in a fixed guidew way 254 and carrying a pawl 255 held by a spring 256 in engagement with a toothed disk 257 rotatively mounted between two 115 ears 253 of the guideway 254. rllhe disk has an insulated pin 259 extending through it to ceact as presently described with the inner ends of two contact plugs 26() carried by the ears i suitable detent pawl 120 for the disk is indicated at 261.

lVires 262 connect the contact plugs (Figs. 21 and 22) with a magnet 263 (Fig. 23) supported by a bracket 264 rising from the block 232 of shoe 231. shown in Figs. 21, 22 and 23 is omitted from Figs. 4 and 8 to avoid confusion thereof.

The armature 265 of the magnet is pivoted at 266 and has a stop pin 267 capable of being projected far enough across the 180 The mechanism j path of boxes passing under shoe 231 to arrest one or more boxes.

The operation of this counting mechanism is as follows:

that it is actuated the distance of one tooth each time a blank passes between the rolls 192 on their way to the slowly traif'eling belt 195y (Fig. a) where the blanks accumulate overlapped in a row as hereinafter described. So long as the circuit completing pin 9.59 is away from between contacts 260 the arrester pin 267 will remain raised and will stop no boxes on the belt 195. But when the pin 259 arrives between the two contacts, the circuit through wires 262 and the magnet will be completed and the arrester pin 267 will be shii'ted down so that the next box, or a small plurality of boxes, will be held back so as to create a little pile of boxes on the belt, but not enough of a pile to interfere with the passage ot the same under belt 196 (Fig. 4l). As soon as further operation of lever 250 results in' rotating the disk to carry the pin 259 beyond the contacts 258, the arrester pin 267 will rise and permit the passage of the boxes in regular overlapped positions until the pin 259 again reaches the contacts. An operative sitting at the machine beyond the belt 196 is able to gather the boxes up in bunches ol'V twenty-live (when the disk 257 has that number of teeth) and place them in the cartons or packing cases, counting the bunches as she proceeds, because the regularly spaced little piles, due to the arresting action of pin 267, causes spaces that are easily seen.

As the operation of the several parts of the machine has been explained in connec tion with the description oi their structures, a description of the operation of the machine as a whole will be unnecessary.

Having now described my invention, 1 claim:

1. A box folding machine having, in combination a'thick blank-carrying belt, means ior supporting the ope 1ative stretch of said belt, edge gi'lides tor insuring travel ot the belt in a straight path, said guides being spaced apart a distance to simultaneously guide both edges oi? the belt and the belt having a thickness to prevent it from being laterally buckled by edge contact with the guides, and means 'for folding blanks while they are carried by the belt.

2. A machine ot the character described comprising a pair ot parallel bars, rolls supported by said bars, a blank-supporting belt mounted on said rolls, the upper edges of the bars extending above the plane oi the tops of the rolls to provide edge guides Jfor insuring travel of the belt in a straight path, and means coperating with said belt for` Supposing the disk 257 has 25 teeth, and

making boxes, said belt having a thickness to prevent it from being laterally buckled by the guides.

3. A machine of the character described comprising a single wide belt having a longitu dinal groove, means for insuring travel of the belt in a straight path, a finger extending into said groove ot the belt 'for lifting a por tion of a blank carried by said belt, and means cooperating with said belt for folding boxes.

fl. A machine oi the character described comprising a single wide belt having longitudinal grooves, edge guides for insuring travel of the belt in a straight path, a linger extending into one ot said grooves ot the belt for lifting a portion ot' a blankcarried by said belt, Aand means cooperating with said belt for folding boxes.

ln a box making machine, a wide lower belt for the blanks, an upper relatively narrow belt, a roll cage for holding the operative stretch ot theupper belt toward the lower belt, a pair oi screw threaded shafts, nut hubs on said sha'lt, means for simultaneously rotating both ot said shafts, and connections whereby rotation et said shai'ts will adjust the upper belt and roll cage laterally upon the lower belt.

6. 1n a box making machine, a wide lower belt for the blanks, an upper relatively nar row belt,"i pair oi screw threaded shaits, cach having a sprocket, nut hubs on said shafts, an endless chain mounted on said sprockets for simultaneously rotating both oi" said shafts, and connections whereby rotation ot said-shafts will adjust the upper belt laterally upon the lower belt.

ln machine of the character described, means for forwarding blanks singly, means for turning a portion ot each blank over upon an underlying portion, a belt for completing the folding ot the over turned portions of the blanks, and means for driving said belt ata faster speed than the speed of travel of the blanks.

8. 1n a machine ot the character described, a main lower blanlc-carrying belt, ineans for partially folding blanks carried thereon, an upper belt for completing the folding of the blanks, and means for driving said upper belt at a laster speed than the speed ol travel ot the main lower belt.

9. A box making machine comprising a lower belt, a plurality of upper belts one beyond the other and occupying different lateral positions relatively to the lower belt to shiit the control. ot the blanks from one side to the other, and means for operating on different lateral portions of the blanks successively while the blanks are being carried through the machine by said belts.

10. A box making machine comprising a lower belt, a plurality of upper belts one be yond the other and occupying different lateral positions relatively to the lower belt, and means for folding blanks which are caused to travel by said belts, each of said upper belts being independently adjustable laterally.

11. A box making machine having a plurality of groups of blank-forwarding and folding instrumentalities, said groups occupying different lateral positions to shift the control of the folding operation from one side to the other of the blanks, and means for adjusting said groups independently of each other.

12. In a box making machine, a plurality of groups of mechanism each of which includes means for causing blanks to travel and means for folding the blanks while so traveling, said groups occupying different lateral positions to shift the control of the folding operation from oneside to the other of the blanks, and means for laterally adjusting each of said groups independently of the other.

13. A box making machine comprising a lower belt, a plurality of upper belts one beyond the other and occupying different latteral positions relatively to the lower belt, means for folding blanks which are caused to travel by said belts, each of said upper belts having a roll cage for holding its operative stretch toward the lower belt, means being provided for independently adjusting each upper belt and its roll cage laterally.

y14. A blank folding machine comprising a lower belt, means for causing blanks to travel with said belt with the edges of the blanks projecting beyond said belt, means for breaking the blanks on pre-determined lines, and aroll for supporting the portion of each blank which projects beyond the edge of the belt at the point where breaking occurs.

15. A blank folding machine comprising a wide lower belt, three upper belts, one beyond the other, to coperate with the lower belt, and means for operating on different lateral portions of the blanks successively while the blanks are being carried through the machine by said belts.

16. In a blank folding machine, upper and lower cooperating blank-carrying belts, means for frictionally driving the upper belt at a speed exceeding that of the lower belt, and folders for operating on the blanks while they are being carried through the machine by said belts.

17. A box making machine having a carrier belt, means for folding blanks on different lines successively, and means for shifting control of the blanks laterally to permit proper operation of the folding means.

18. A box making machine having a plurality of folding instrumentalities to operate successively on blanks, means for carrying the blanks singly and continuously past said folding instrumentalities, and means for shifting control from one side to the other of the' blanks during their passage.

19. A box making machine having a main lower blank-carrying belt, a plurality of upper belts cooperating with the lower belt to forward the blanks, said upper belts being located in different positions longitudinally of the lower belt and in different lateral positions relatively thereto, and means for folding the blanks on different lines as they are forwarded.

20. A box making machine having a main lower blank-carrying belt, a plurality of upper belts cooperating with the lower belt to forward the blanks, said upper belts being located in different positions longitudinally of the lower belt and in different lateral positions relatively thereto, and means for folding the blanks on different lines as they are forwarded, means being provided for laterally adjusting said upper belts.

21. In a box making machine, ripper and lower belts for carrying the blanks, means for adjusting one belt laterally relatively to the other, and means for temporarily relieving pressure between the belts during lateral adjustment.

22. In a box making machine, a wide lower belt for the blanks, an upper relatively narrow belt, means for laterally adjusting the upper belt, and means for temporarily raising the upper belt during lateral adjustment thereo 23. In a box making machine, a pair of cooperating blank-forwarding belts, means for positively driving one of said belts, and frictional driving mechanism geared to exert a tendency to drive the other belt at a higher speed than the positively driven belt, said frictional driving mechanism being constructed to slip to permit the contact of said belts to hold the actual speed of the frictionally driven belt down to that of the positively driven belt.

2d. In a box making machine, a wide lower blank-carrying belt, means for positively driving it, an upper narrow belt cooperating with the lower belt to forward the blanks, and frictional driving mechanism geared to exert a tendency to drive the upper narrow belt at a higher speed than that of the lower wide belt, whereby reduction of thickness of either belt due to wear will be compensated for.

25. A box making machine comprising a belt having a longitudinal groove, means coperating with said belt for forwarding blanks and folding them, and a guide for directing the folded blanks away from the belt at its delivery portion, said guide having a projection entering said groove of the belt.

26. A box making machine comprising a belt having a plurality of longitudinal grooves, means cooperating with said belt for forwarding blanks and folding them, and a plate tangential to the delivery end of the belt, said plate having projections entering the grooves of the belt. i

27. In a box making machine having upper and lower belts which carry folded blanks as boxes, and a pair of rolls for receiving and delivering the boxes from the belts, said rolls being mounted so that their nip is above the plane of travel of the boxes issuing from said belts, whereby the boxes are curved upwardly as they are delivered.

28. A box making machine comprising continuously movable blank-forwarding belts'and folders cooperating therewith to convert blanks singly into folded boxes, a receiving belt for the boxes, means for operating the receiving belt at a relatively slow speed, a presser belt cooperating with the receiving belt, and a yielding frame having a pair of coacting belts to transfer the boxes from the first-mentioned belts to the receiving' belt.

29. A box making machine comprising continuously movable blankforwarding belts and folders cooperating therewith to convert blanks singly into folded boxes, a receiving belt for the boxes, means for operating the receiving belt at a relatively slow speed, a presser belt cooperating with the receiving belt, ayielding frame having a pair of coacting belts to transfer the boxes from the first-mentioned belts to the receiving belt, and means for adjustably counterbalancing said yielding frame.

30. il box making machine comprising continuouslyv movable blank-forwarding belts and folders cooperating therewith to convert blanks singly int-o folded boxes, a receiving belt for the boxes, means for operating the receiving belt at a relatively slow speed, a presser belt cooperating with the receiving belt, a yielding frame having a pair of coacting belts to transfer the boxes from the Erst-mentioned belts to the receiving belt, and a shoe carried by said yielding frame to direct the boxes under the presser belt.

3l. A box making machine comprising continuously movable blank-forwarding belts and folders cooperating therewithto convert blanks singlv into folded boxes, a receiving belt for the boxes, means for operating the receiving belt at a relatively slow speed, a presser belt cooperating with the receiving belt, a yielding frame having a pair of coacting belts to transfer the boxes` from the i'irst-mentioned belts to the receiving belt, and a guide parallel with the edges of said eoacting belts.

32. A box making machine comprising continuously movable blank-forwarding belts and folders cooperating therewith to convert blanks singly into folded boxes, a receiving belt for the boxes, means for operating the receiving belt at a relatively slow speed, means for t 'ansferring the folded boxes to the receiving belt in overlapping positions, and means for temporarily arresting movement of regularly spaced boxes on the receiving belt to create visible interruptions in the row of overlapping boxes.

A box making machine comprising continuously movable blankforwarding belts and folders cooperating therewith to convert blanks singly into folded boxes, a receiving belt for the boxes, means for operating' the receiving belt at a relatively slow speed, means for transferring the folded boxes to the receiving belt iii-overlapping positions, and means for temporarily arresting movement of regularly spaced boxes on the receiving belt to create visible interrup- Y tions in the row of overlapping boxes, said arresting means comprising a stop movable toward and from the receiving belt, an electromagnet for controlling the position of said stop, a counter actuated by the boxes, and electrical connections between said counter and magnet.

In testimony whereof I have alilxed my signature.

LEON E. LA BGMBARD. 

